NATS-JAYS: RESIST THE URGE TO FASHION A NOOSE OUT OF A JOHN GIBBONS TIE

Sunday -- Nats 4, Jays 2: Well, that was a total lack of killer instinct, with a capital K and a capital I.

First off, can Jays fans blame A.J. Burnett (what is with every player who appeared in one of those irreverent team promos landing on the disabled list) likely landing on the 15-day disabled list on The Texan? Burnett threw 372 pitches in his last three starts prior to coming out early vs. the Giants last Tuesday, so feel free to check off the "yes" box, but write something in the margins about hitting coach Mickey Brantley.

It's all a tapestry. If the Jays had been more productive, they could have got Burnett a few five-and-fly wins, and he might not have developed his shoulder woes. Josh Towers doesn't end up starting today — once again, he wasn't half-bad, but when the hitters make contact, the ball is usually headed somewhere out of the reach of fielders, and quickly. That's what happens when you top out at 88 mph.

Not getting the sweep is vexing from a fan's perspective. To the players, it's another one out of 162 games; Nats lefty Micah Bowie is one of those baseball survivors who's come by success the hard way, so it's hard to begrudge him beating the Jays.

Saturday -- Jays 7, Nats 3: Could Vernon Wells stay in the 2-hole, with Alex Rios sliding to No. 3, when Reed Johnson comes back?

Of course, that would be a hard sell. The media/fans' expectation is for Wells to reach certain totals in the counting stats, 30-plus home runs and 100 RBI, in order to justify his contract (which actually doesn't kick in till next year), so batting him second, possibly ahead of Rios, is a non-starter.

It's really all about images, though. Back when the Cubs had Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace, they usually batted 2-3 since Sandberg was a middle infielder, a position not expected to provide power, and Grace was a lefty-hitting first baseman, which is a power role. Sandberg was actually the bigger power threat, though.

Similarly, Wells is a veteran with the big contract and Rios is a young guy, so that kind of dictates who bats where. However, Rios has more of a home-run stroke going (15 to Wells' six) and V-Dub might do better if he's left alone to just make solid contact and rake out of the 2-hole. After today's game, where he was on base his first three times up and had four RBI, it's to think of Wells getting on base at a .375-.380 clip with power (his career high in OBP is .359) while having Rios following him in the order. Wells wouldn't get 100 RBI, but he could help the Jays score more runs. It would be fun (for a baseball geek, anyway) to run some simulations to see which order would help the Jays.

As for the win, take it with a grain of Levale Speigner and a pinch of Josh Towers starting on Sunday.

Friday -- Jays 7, Nationals 2: There's some serious afterglow going on -- Roy Halladay's record matches tonight's score after a typical seven-plus solid innings in Gregg Zaun's first start at catcher since coming off the disabled list. (Doc seemed to have the sinkerball working, which is welcome news since it apparently puts less strain on the arm than the cut fastball.)

The Jays should have scored a lot more than seven runs (case in point: Alex Rios and Vernon Wells, who did go 3-for-5, coming up empty with the bases loaded in the fifth). Optimistically, this might be a sign the hitting is finally getting untracked instead of offering teases every four or five games.

Nats manager Manny Acta should get some kind of medal for having a team that's been only mildly bad (29-38) despite manifold injuries to pitchers, including de facto No. 1 starter John Patterson and reliever Luis Ayala (who pitched an inning for Columbus tonight in Ottawa). The Nationals will likely still finish dead last in Quad-A (check their run differential vs. that of the Cincinnati Reds), but so much for the pre-season talk that they would be historically awful, like 1916 Philadelphia A's or 1935 Boston Braves awful.

(Geez, Sagert, couldn't you just reference the 1962 Mets, like a normal person?)

(Hat tip to our favourite Nats blogger, D.C. Sports Chick, who's shown some support during this current time of trouble. Another new Jays blog, just discovered today, is Dave Rouleau's Flying Through The Farm, which gives a good survey of the whole organization.)

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.